Parents, here’s your village: Vicksburg Family Development Service

VICKSBURG, MS. – The Vicksburg Family Development Service (VFD) is restoring families in the community by offering compassion, education, and tangible support to parents and children of all ages.

“You don’t realize how much you’ve really done until you’re telling the story” -Director, Claudia Taylor

The VFD service, currently under the direction of Claudia Taylor, has been serving Warren County for 45 years. They started out with child development working with families from pregnancy to age 5 in a program called Early Intervention. They initially offered child development and parenting classes only to first and second time moms. They have since grown and expanded.

In 1991, a second mentoring program was added to help with drug and alcohol prevention. It targets children ages 10 to 17. This program teaches life skills and prevention four days a week as an after school program. VFD now offers tutoring to those adolescents as well. They even have a van that transports children from the schools to the program and back home.

For families entering the program today, VFD offers online parenting classes to approved applicants. Some individuals may be court ordered to take parenting classes, but resources are available to any wanting to better themselves or strengthen their parenting skills and relationships within their families.

VFD is certified through the state to distribute car seats. Participants in need of car seats can receive a government approved, up to date seat after taking a safety class and witnessing a demonstration. “With car seats, we do that not only to support our clients here at Family Development, but also the Warren County community to keep it safe,” said Director, Claudia Taylor.

VFD cares about the safety and development of children and teens

VFD does several events for their youth programs: Male Image and Girl’s Club. They go into the school systems and teach classes. “We are a safe place for the young girls and young men,” said Taylor. Parents and students can help VFD to strengthen the adolescent community by welcoming more participants.

“They can spread the word to their friends. It’s a little group that comes together. We do fun activities. Plus, we help them academically as well as help them to build their self esteem and act as role models for when there is an absent parent in the home or an absent father,” said Taylor, “We help with careers, getting them geared toward thinking about the future and preparing for the future. We also do for our parents and children on the Early Intervention with our toddlers. We do Christmas, we do Easter. We promote reading and literacy.”

VFD provides books and promotes bonding for parents and children through reading and learning to read. Even adults have access to literacy assistance where needed. They believe reading together not only strengthens the children, but the parents as well.

The center has a playgroup for preschoolers of clients starting at age 2. They offer this up to age 4, assuming children have not graduated into Head Start. They offer developmental assessments and work more closely with children experiencing any delays. After a second assessment, a child with developmental delays can be referred to a pediatrician through VFD.

“They (the pediatricians) know us. We’ve been around a long time,” Taylor smiled as she noted.

How can the community support VFD?

VFD has spent several decades helping to improve the community of Vicksburg. Community members can help to support VFD in a number of ways. They do several fundraisers and events. The next upcoming event is the annual Trunk or Treat. “The Trunk or Treat, that’s our baby that we started and we spread it to the community,” Taylor exclaimed. This is a totally free event that helps VFD by getting the word out there about their services.

“We will be doing more fundraisers,” she added, “We are under the umbrella of The United Way as well. So whenever you give to United Way you in turn give to the agencies under the umbrella. We just ask for people to remember our name and when they see that we are doing something, come out and support us.”

When donating to United Way, you can ask to sponsor Vicksburg Family Development under the list of charities they fund. One can also give direct support to VFD.

VFD posts information regarding events on their Facebook page. Taylor emphasized the importance of keeping VFD events safe. Events are tailored towards families and little ones. “It’s about the community having something safe to do that’s family oriented.”

Meet former director, Kay Lee

Kay Lee was the director of the agency when it first began. Taylor and Lee shared a laugh as Taylor mentioned, “She just retired last September, but you see Kay is still right here!” Lee spends her time right where she started, cheerfully seated beside Taylor with a welcoming smile.

Lee wanted to mention another important component to VFD that is highly beneficial to families who may require added conveniences. “In the Early Intervention piece, we do home visits like one-on-one time for the families too.” Each family is paired with a case manager who will come to the home regularly when needed. They teach classes from prenatal to parenting, checking in with children and parents. They even bring necessary household supplies. VFD has a former labor and delivery nurse on staff who, according to Lee, brings a prenatal component into the program.

“When I first came into Family Development, ” said Lee, “What I love about it, is that it helped me as a momma. Personally, I was helped. Eventually they decided it was easier to put me on staff than it was to answer my phone calls 15 times a day,” She laughed. “Those first years of life are so critical but there’s not a lot of support for families in those first few years.”

VFD also refers several clients to the Center for Pregnancy Choices. The CPC is another organization helping families through pregnancy and early childhood years.

Some clients of VFD come through CPS to seek services.

Some families find out about VFD while under an investigation from CPS. “We try to help them with stability,” said Taylor. “That’s a big thing now; to keep them and their families stable.”

For families who discover VFD through a run in with CPS, VFD aims to strengthen, reunite and shepherd them into healthier lifestyles and closer bonds. Everything they stand for is designed to teach willing parents to be the best they can be. The goal is to ensure that children are thriving in their home environments. VFD keeps parents accountable with regular check-ins and rewards those who put in the work. The staff is composed of genuine, kind, and caring people unified by a desire to see the families in this community thrive.

VFD also has an anger management program. They hope to decrease the rate of child abuse and neglect. Taylor believes abuse and neglect stem not only from anger but from one’s inability to meet their family’s needs. Taylor said, “We try to be a safe place for them to come.”

It’s important to note that VFD does help families who are struggling, but they also help families who simply want to better themselves or maintain a healthy home.

It takes a village

“I’ve often said, ‘Kids don’t come with instructions,’ so I think everyone can benefit from parenting intervention,” said Lee.

VFD can’t help clients pay bills, but they do have a free store that parents can utilize. Parents can use the store twice a month so long as they maintain parenting classes through the center. Taylor added, “I stock it with everything you would need in the house.” Parents have access to things like diapers, wipes, clothes, shoes, some food, essential household items such as toiletries, toilet paper, cleaning products, laundry detergent, dish soap, paper plates, garbage bags and hygiene necessities.

“We have great rapport with people in the community who support us. For Christmas, they go overboard for our kids,” Taylor smiled. “If you work and you focus on paying bills, I focus on giving food, meeting your household needs, getting you baby items and helping you with all of that.” They also do a uniform drive before school starts.

“We can’t supply all of your needs. We can’t be your sole person but we can help. We can help a tremendous amount,” said Taylor.

Clients can reach out to their case worker when they are in need of extra parenting support- or even just emotionally. While the staff is not exactly a team of therapists, they are there to be an extra guide and support system. Parents should never be afraid to ask for help or seek out support from the community. Vicksburg has that support system in place through the Vicksburg Family Development Center. “Here’s your village.”